REVIEW TC ELECTRONICS THUNDERSTORM FLANGER PEDAL: Heavy Duty Package

The Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger was released in 1976 as the world's first stompbox-format flanger. Development began around 1975 and after introduction it quickly became iconic. Later variants, like the Deluxe Electric Mistress, arrived in 1978, but the original dates to 1976. I loved those early model Flangers though they had a lot of background noise. I don’t have any of those left but I do have at least five dedicated Flanger pedals and several others inside multifunction pedals. So what is going on with the Thunderstorm Flanger from TC Electronics?

REVIEW BEHRINGER 69 VIBE PEDAL: Is this the best Uni-vibe clone EVER?

The Behringer 69 Vibe Chorus/Vibrato Pedal is a budget-friendly homage to the iconic Shin-Ei Uni-Vibe, a pedal that defined the psychedelic rock sounds of the late 1960s, famously used by guitar legends like Jimi Hendrix, Robin Trower, and David Gilmour. Priced at around $59-$69, this all-analog pedal aims to deliver those lush, swirling modulation tones at a fraction of the cost of boutique alternatives or vintage originals. After putting it through its paces, how does the Behringer 69 Vibe stack up?

REVIEW MOOER PE100: Tiny Powerful Guitar Processor that easily fits in your shirt pocket

In the world of guitar effects, bigger isn't always better—especially when you're practicing late at night or jamming in a cramped hotel room. Enter the Mooer PE100, a compact desktop multi-effects processor that's designed to pack a full pedalboard's worth of versatility into something that easily fits in your shirt pocket. Released a few years back, this little beauty from Mooer Audio has earned a reputation as an affordable and complete solution for practicing guitarists. It's got an incredible bargain price, but does it deliver? 

REVIEW ELECTRO-HARMONIX LIZARD QUEEN: What happened to this pedal?

The Electro-Harmonix Lizard Queen Octave Fuzz pedal, released in April 2023, is a vibrant slice of retro-inspired tone that captures the gritty, octave-drenched spirit of 1970s EHX designs while delivering modern versatility. 

REVIEW JOYO ORTHROS: UNIQUE A-B Guitar Pedal Effect Switcher

In Greek mythology, Orthros is a two-headed, serpent-tailed dog that guarded the cattle of the monster Geryon. Here, in the real world, where we actually live, Orthros is a deluxe A-B switching pedal from Joyo. The mythological Orthros, with its two heads, might symbolize the dual signal paths (A and B loops) the pedal manages, allowing you to switch or blend between two effects chains or signal routes. The pedal is really inexpensive and has many killer features, is it good?

REVIEW SONICAKE JUNCTION BOX: Balanced Patchbay in a guitar pedal, many apps

Junction Box, by Sonicake

While preparing the review of the Sonicake “Levitate” delay/reverb I came across this little jewel, appropriately named “Junction Box”. This is very similar to a box I’ve been building for years in my workshop and which I use regularly in my studio. It’s nice to find it already built but it's not exactly dirt cheap for a dumb metal box of jacks, is it good?

REVIEW SONICAKE LEVITATE: Bargain Digital Delay/Echo and Reverb in a guitar pedal

Today we’re checking out the “Levitate” guitar-stompbox from Sonicake. This single, compact pedal, puts two of my all time favorite effects together in one low priced bundle. For $56, can this possibly be any good?

REVIEW MXR X100 ROCKMAN REISSUE, IN A GUITAR PEDAL: Does it Rock?

The original Rockman X100 captured the unique guitar tones Tom Scholz brought to the band called Boston. Riding on the wake of popularity caused by the Sony Walkman, the Rockman was a compact, battery powered appliance that could be used with an included set of headphones to provide a wide range of guitar tones. Using a mini TRS splitter cable you could get the headphone sound out of the Rockman and into your recordings, many artists used this technique to record hit tunes that did not sound like Boston, thus making the Rockman a real tool for the masses. Those plucky Dunlop engineers in their MXR lab have now reconstituted the Rockman tone and packed it into a stomp box the same size as an original Phase 90. I’ve had the new one in my hands for a couple of months, how did they do? Is it good?

REVIEW WARM AUDIO PEDAL76 ANALOG FET COMPRESSOR PEDAL FOR GUITAR

IT'S BIG, IT'S HEAVY AND

IT'S AWESOME! 

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I've owned a lot of compressor-pedals and a lot of studio-compressors in my 60+ years of playing guitar and recording. I'm really not a fan of most pedal compressors because they usually result in smaller sound (I like a nice tube amp, doing some work, moving some air with a naturally compressed "tube" sound). Has Warm Audio finally delivered a compressor pedal that I like? 

REVIEW LINE 6 POD EXPRESS MINIATURE GUITAR AMP WORKSTATION, IS IT GOOD?

POD EXPRESS GUITAR WORKSTATION

For the last few weeks I've been noodling around with the Pod Express, a newer pedal release by Line 6. It runs on batteries or power supply, it's got a stereo headphone/line output with analog master volume, it has  lots of core effects like Reverb, Chorus and Distortion plus it has seven amp models. Priced at under $200, all this power is packed into a compact space age-plastic stomp box little bigger than an old MXR Phase 100, but is it good?

REVIEW NUX MOD CORE, IS IT GOOD?

 IT'S NU-X (like "New X")

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The Mod Core from Nu>X is a powerhouse of good sounding modulation effects and features.

REVIEW CRY BABY JUNIOR WAH PEDAL BY DUNLOP

NOTHING JUNIOR ABOUT THE SOUND

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Dunlop makes a Cry Baby Wah-Wah pedal for every player and style of music. The Cry Baby Junior is a slightly smaller version of the classic Cry Baby wah pedal. Designed in collaboration with Pedal Train, is this the best wah pedal Dunlop has ever built?

REVIEW JHS 3 SERIES SCREAMER, DISTORTION BOOSTER TUBE SCREAMER™ REPLACEMENT, JUST BUY IT!

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A few months ago I picked up a new Ibanez™ Tube Screamer™ pedal to compare to some of my other  TS style overdrive and distortion pedals. It was a fun experiment that I will now need to repeat because there's a new player and challenger, the JHS 3 Series "Screamer". How does it sound?

REVIEW EX™ GUITAR EFFECTS LOOP SWITCHER PEDAL PASSIVE SWITCHER BOX

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When I first saw the features offered by this box online for under $37 I immediately ordered two of them. They arrived with each packed in a rather plain black box, inside was a soft fuzzy cloth bag filled with the pedal. Does it work right? Does it sound good?

REVIEW HIZUMITAS FUZZ SUSTAINER DISTORTION PEDAL BY EARTHQUAKER DEVICES

Does the world really need another distortion pedal? 

Another distortion pedal by Earthquaker Devices?

REVIEW MAKA FLAT PATCH CABLES

Recently I wrote a review for stompbox patch cables by EBS. I went to check prices on buying more and found these Maka cables, so I bought some to test.

They’re half the price of the EBS but are they as good? Lets compare them.

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EBS 3.94-INCH FLAT PATCH CABLES FOR CONNECTING STOMPBOXES AND EFFECT PEDALS, CABLE SHOOTOUT

EBS patch cables are flexible and allow pedals to pack in close together.

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Why are EBS patch cables so vastly superior in performance? Are they really worth $8 each?

REVIEW MOOER CLEAR FOOTSWITCH TOPPER

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I have a lot of pedals and I like playing in my barefeet when I’m in the studio. Typical stompbox footswitches can be hard to push and mean to your feet. 

Barefoot Buttons™ makes solid metal footswitch toppers which block viewing the LEDs on  stompboxes from many angles. The other problem is the price, Barefoot Buttons™ are almost $10 EACH. I refuse to pay $10 per button because it would literally cost me over $1,000 to outfit all my footswitches with Barefoot Buttons™. 

REVIEW EARTHQUAKER DEVICES DISPATCH MASTER REVERB AND ECHO PEDAL FOR GUITAR

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The Earthquaker Devices “Dispatch Master” is an easy to operate reverb and echo combined into a single stompbox enclosure. This one pedal creates two of my favorite ambient effects and puts them in the footprint of a regular size Phase 90 stompbox. All that would be pretty cool by itself but the Dispatch Master adds wonderful sonics and long delay times that make this pedal sound gorgeous whether you’re using it inline with your guitar or in the effects loop of an amp. 

REVIEW BBE SONIC STOMP GUITAR PEDAL, MINI AND MIGHTY

 

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Way back in 1986 I owned a music store and we sold BBE Sonic Maximizer processors. They were quite popular. If you have high quality audio content (like an audio CD) and a high quality playback system the BBE Sonic Maximizer process can provide clarity and improved sonics in a unique way.